The present invention is particularly suitable for preparing and filleting fish and like cold blooded aquatic creatures. As is well known such creatures tend to be curved in exterior shape, and smooth and slippery on their outer surfaces. They are thus hard to grip and tend to slide about when processed to de-scale, clean, or fillet to remove skeletal bones. Not only is accomplishment of the task slowed, but there is risk to a person of cutting oneself.
In fact, special products have been created heretofore to aid the fisherman or cook in such endeavors. Price et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,908,231 describes a cutting board with a clamp which holds the tail of a fish. U.S. Pat. No. 4, 017,063 describes a similar cutting board having a grooved cutting surface. It is well known in general to put grooves or holes in cutting boards to channel blood and fluids to catchment places. See Design U.S. Pat. No. 230,553 to Terlizzi. Grooves and depressions in the surface of pastry boards, to prevent dough from slipping during rolling are known. See UK Pat. No. 188 (1905). And of course plastic mats with various surface patterns, and with open grid patterns, are well known for utility use in kitchens and the like; however, they are not particularly adapted to holding food product from slipping while it is being worked on.
Generally speaking, the commercially available products for fish filleting today tend to comprise coarse gloves which frictionally engage the fish, along with cutting boards having simple grooves and tail clamps. Such cutting boards have been inconvenient and insufficient to the task.
Thus there is a need for a device which has improved capability of holding the food product. At the same time such useful device has to be adapted to ready cleaning, and reasonably low in cost of manufacture.